Becoming Monsters: Tidbits 08

Becoming Monsters is the creation and property of Ai Loves, setting used with permission.

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Chapter 8: Gambits

For about two minutes, there was an unholy scramble to get to the various tables. People who had spotted personal favorites and wanted to grab them. People who came as a group and sprinted to team sports. People who had no idea what to do, and just went to the closest table.

Todd? He realized quickly that the 30 minute limit meant that a lot of the games wouldn't be practical. There was one long table set with chess boards. He dove for the ones with timers, the sign labeling it Bullet Chess, and immediately set up on the black pieces of one of the spots. The games would be fast enough to get a few in. Setting up on black side would invite someone to go against him quickly, giving them the advantage.

It worked, a Goblin man hopping up to the chair opposite him and getting rapidly set as well. The two started moving pieces fast enough that the clicks and taps from pieces and clocks took up a constant background. The Goblin was good at this, the game was fun, but Todd also kept the other point in mind.

Over the last three years, since the Change gave him his Bardic Knowledge ability, the chess clubs and community cafe were some of the only real socializing he'd gotten. As a result, he'd played a great many games against a lot of good players... and he never forgot a single move or board state. Actively calling on that knowledge routinely showed him outs to the most demonic positions his enemy put him into, and let him place his pieces in deceptively dominant zones.

Less than three minutes later, the two were shaking hands as the White King fell. Then trading contact info, this was some real fun. Both went to other boards and got set, the staff member at the table scratching down notes. Todd's next few opponents were not as good at the game, and it gave him time to think as he demolished them.

Alright. You get a point even on a loss. It is better to go to an event every day of the week and bomb than it is to go to one and win it. Even better, if I can get in on that Extra slot with either my Inspiration buff or just trading favors, I can rack up points while I'm participating in other things. "Checkmate. Good game!" I have exactly one thing to offer, and that's Inspiration. Maybe if I can find a good Class Ability or Spell? Both are going to be made easier if I level up more, which I'm on track to do anyway. Plus... there's the bonus points. Nobody here knows that I'm already 20 points up on them, and about to be 30. Can't assume I'm the only one leveling up, but I'm pretty sure it's a safe assumption that I'm going fastest. "Checkmate."

Todd's latest opponent, a FIrebird wearing fire-retardant gloves, shook their head and whistled in frustration. The clock was running down, there would probably only be time for one more match. A raucous cheer from the stage and a glance over his shoulder showed the end of a major video game match, a 5v5 FBB game that looked like it had been seriously close. Students were starting to gather back towards the field as the clock ran down too far for them to continue. His train of thought was interrupted by an unbelievably sultry voice coming from the seat across from his own. "Fancy seeing you here, Todd. We have time for one more if you're... up... for it."

His eyes were drawn to his last opponent as if pulled there by the hands of a Titan. May, the Greater Succubus, was there in her deeply tanned glory. She was halfway through setting up the white pieces before he found his voice. "I absolutely am. We have to be quick, though. Timers for three minutes?"

"Three minutes is plenty." Her lips came to a delicious smirk at her double-entendre. She moved one of her center pawns up in a standard opening. "I owe you one, Todd. Nobody beats me at my own game, so I'll beat you at yours."

He moved his knight up in a defense against the obvious. "Let's go, then. Always game if you are."

The two traded unremarkable setups, no pieces traded. May broke from the unremarkable patterns with an aggressive push with one bishop. "You know I'm always ready. All the time. Especially for you."

Todd had to take an additional breath to get his blood back where it belonged at that line. She meant it exactly one way, one that had nothing at all to do with chess, and he knew she did. Looking down from her face to the board had the unfortunate side effect of trailing directly past her breasts, which didn't help at all. It took some effort, but he spotted the line of her attack and managed to defend, forcing a series of trades slightly in his own advantage. "What I said still stands. If you want the full experience, you need either patience or a Greater Mana Potion."

Her smile broadened even more, fangs dimpling her lower lip cutely as she made her next move. "I think you're looking forward to it, Todd. I would be in your place. Half of Alpha Omega is jealous of you, you know. Getting to experience me. To experience this." Her hands came to the buttons at the front of her blouse and undid the top two, unleashing acres of smooth cleavage. Todd could see that her areolae were starting to peek out, unobstructed by anything even vaguely resembling a bra. Her nipples were tenting the thin fabric of that blouse, drawing the eye and the libido, obliterating all thought. "I've already commissioned one of those potions, even. The time is coming fast."

Todd, thankfully, already had plans set, and his hands moved to enact them without needing further intervention from his brain. The next few moves passed like this, May becoming increasingly frustrated as she fell further behind. One solitary thought managed to sneak its way past the static in Todd's head. "I think... I am not the only one looking forward to this. What did you say on Saturday? I'm the only person who can make you cum reliably. Who can go the distance with you." He looked at the board, at the frankly amateurish position he'd let himself get drawn into while distracted. New plans set, he made an aggressive push of his own with his queen. "You're the one who went out and got the rare potion just because you were impatient to go for a second round with me. You're hornier than you've ever been in your life, aren't you? This isn't your game, you won with the power of cleavage just to get at me."

The rest of the game did not last long, as her eyes got the slightly-glazed look that his own had just gotten rid of. Her king fell with thirty seconds to spare before time was called, the observer nodding approvingly while sporting an obvious erection of his own from being in the presence of said cleavage. May shook her head, which had the side effect of shaking other bits of her. This time, Todd could simply admire it. He wasn't on a clock anymore. "Only you can pull that on me, Todd. If my pet Alchemist is right, I'll be seeing you tomorrow night. You're right, I'm looking forward to it. Best be drinking water and eating well. You will need it."

Mr. Harrison was talking from the stage, but Todd could not hear him over the roaring sound of his own heartbeat in his ears. Eventually, he got himself under control. Ish. The words started getting to him. "... well played to all who participated, and now I'm sure you're curious who the nine high scorers are. Make some noise!"

The crowd complied. Loudly. Todd found that even though his chosen sport was in a chair, he was exhausted. The focus and planning required had taken it out of him as thoroughly as if he'd been playing soccer or tug of war.

"Our three point winners!" Six names flashed up onto the screen. Much to his shock, Todd found that his name was one of them. "And now for today's five-pointers!" The three names that popped up were greeted with another roar of approval as Todd could see some folks getting high fives. Vaguely, he was aware of a couple of people nearby him congratulating him as well.

It was an odd feeling, that.

"One last detail, everyone. Point totals will update every Monday morning, no later than noon, on the school website. Right now, ties are sorted alphabetically, but when it comes down to the wire we will have a way to do it properly. It's getting late, and the event is done, but feel free to ask questions from the staff while we pick up. Or help out, that would be nice." There was a chuckle at this. "Have a good evening!"

Most of the crowd disappeared like they suddenly learned how to teleport. Todd, along with perhaps another dozen other students, stuck around for a bit to help. The faculty present were grateful, their help probably cut the cleanup time by a third. Before too long, they were walking back towards the dormitories, chatting about moments from the games and congratulating each other. Exchanging info, planning for team-ups. The party broke up as they got close. It was a Monday, after all. All of them had class the next day, and all of them were drained from what they had been doing.

"See you in World History?" The speaker was a Gargoyle, stony gray and six feet tall, by the name of Tiny. There was a joke in there somewhere, but Todd "Tidbit" Reed didn't want to pry.

"Yeah. Hope you're better at it than I am. People just don't make sense sometimes."

"And I thought you were the Bard, here. Aren't people your entire Class?"

The five of them standing there laughed a bit, including Todd. "You might be right. Who knows, maybe actually using Class Abilities will make it bearable."

The Panda Beastfolk walking with them laughed even harder.

It was with pleasant spirits that Todd climbed the stairs and made his way over to Suite 222. There were still people walking around, including a couple of apparently-drunk dudes with bloodied noses hugging it out. People don't make sense sometimes, indeed, they had gotten significant amounts of blood on the walls. Enough that the smell was in the air.

Either they got over their grievances, or someone else ran away.

Was he entered his suite, though, something was off. There were sounds of a struggle going on, Jem panting on the couch. Ghata was not in sight. "Oh, thank the Moon you're here! Quickly, we have Song secure, you need to do your stuff!"

"She should be good for a couple more hours, what happened?" Todd was dropping his pack and getting out of his clothes as fast as he could.

"Some idiots got into a fight in the hallway and got blood everywhere. The smell put Song into feral hunger, right now you're the only cure we have access to!"

"Wait, she is in ACTIVE MURDER MODE right now, and you want me to WHAT?"

"Ghata's holding her down, but she's getting tired. She broke my cuffs already. Hurry up!"

Todd dug into his backpack for a sec and tossed the coil of spider silk rope at Jem. "Use this! Call me in when she's secure."

"Is that... you know what, I'll ask later." Jem ran into Song's room, and the sounds of struggle only increased.

Todd was starting to get worried when Ghata's Rakshasi voice came from the room. "We got her! Come on!"

Todd ran into quite a sight. Song was fully in her mighty Kumiho form, boosted by the still-lingering Inspiration from the night before. The Amazoness and the Rakshasi were each holding one powerful leg, spread apart, as the white rope bound her arms, head, and upper chest.

If it hadn't been so crazy dangerous, the whole thing would have been much more erotic.

As it was, Todd could waste no time before diving in himself. She needed to be sexually satiated as quickly as possible, and he knew just how to do it. Song liked it rough. She liked to be tied up and bitten, to be manhandled. The present situation was already turning her all the way on, if she hadn't been mostly-feral with Hunger she'd have been begging for him to have sex with her.

As it was, he thrust himself deep into her, hands reaching up to maul the enlarged breasts within his grasp. He leaned in to give her nips and bites, ignoring the thicker fur on the parts he could reach, and pounded into her with all the (admittedly not too great) Strength he had. There were occasional pauses to hold on for dear life as she thrashed, and at least two occasions where a tired Ghata lost her grip for a second. The scramble resulting from this thankfully didn't end up making Todd bleed, that would have been counterproductive.

After Song suddenly came, she calmed down slightly. By her third, she was back to herself and actively helping. Her fourth was joined by Todd's own, as he focused on turning his mana inward once again. Spent, he took a few steps back. "Okay. She should be good. Untie her?"

Nervously, Jem complied. Todd decided that this would not be the best time to ask where exactly she learned to tie that. Just to be thankful and not think too hard about what it might mean for him in the near future.

A panting voice came from the bed. "Th... thank you. I don't think we got any blood in here, are you alright, Todd?"

"Yeah. You didn't mark me, couple of bruises from those thighs of yours. Sorry I didn't have time to ask for permission before diving in."

"You know you already have it when I'm like that. Super hot, really." Todd was relieved. The last thing he wanted was that kind of breach of trust. "Um. Mind if I stretch and get dressed? We can talk in the living room, you can tell us how you did."

The four were chilling out a few minutes later, both Ghata and Song back in their Human forms. Todd was writing down everything he possibly could about the encounter. How and why. What spell he cast, what mana he was at when he did. The fact that it gave him Level 4, and what minimum Class Progress that had to mean. Same with everything he could remember with the assistance of the others about every other sexual encounter he'd ever had. You know. The last four days.

"Jem picked up three League points after casting support magic for one of the video games and then participating in tug of war a couple of times. Song and I got one each, we tried soccer out but our team lost."

"Don't sell yourself short, Ghata. No way to know the other team had a Paladin with Quell Demon. Really, the frustration from that wasn't helping me when we came back and I smelled blood."

Todd shook his head. "Winning and losing doesn't matter so much, I don't think. I mean, some, but it's not what they were looking for. I played a bunch of chess and won every game, and ended up with three. Only one person from the winning video game team got five points, and that was a 5v5 round."

Jem looked at him curiously. "What do you think they're after?"

Todd shrugged. "Not sure. What I do know is that the points system values going out and trying as much as you can, as often as you can, more than it does individual victories. Maybe that's it? Number of successful actions? Getting groups to work together?"

"I don't like not knowing how I'm being judged."

"You're the one who puts herself out to be judged by the Moon repeatedly." Song giggled a bit.

"There's a difference! I know what she's asking and what she wants. She likes it when I loan out abilities or right a balance."

"Loaning..." Ghata looked thoughtful. "Wait. One of our five-pointers was on the losing team with us, but she was doing a ton of healing and buffing. Our team would have gotten absolutely run over on the soccer field."

"That makes sense for today's goals, but I think they were just trying to make a point. If you want to win big, you have to contribute way beyond what someone five years ago might have been able to." Todd looked up from his notes. "In other news, this evening's Inspiration was significant in two ways. It put me to Level 4," the girls clapped excitedly, "and was also from a 55% mana pool. If my math is right, that means that tomorrow I will have about 140% of my total pool to work with in total. As long as my timing is good, I will be able to cast a maximum-strength Investiture and still buff the other two of you. Barely. Timing will be tight, though."

Song pulled out a notepad. "How tight, Todd?"

"I will have exactly a 22 minute window in which to set off Investiture, and it will happen right before dinner. Whoever helps me with that needs to be ready for me to be fast, and have their phone on them just in case my math was wrong."

Song smiled in a small way. "I'll volunteer for that. You have all generously given me the pleasure of the past couple of days, so that I could be safe. I'll give you the pleasure of Todd taking his time. If anything goes wrong, my professors are tracking my Hunger, so they won't ask questions if I duck out. The wrist bands are good for something, after all."

The surreal situation again struck Todd. That three women could be scheduling their opportunities to have sex with him, specifically, was a dream so distant last month that he'd have laughed at the merest suggestion. "Okay, I'm going to go ahead and level up. Looks like my only benefits right now are stat gain, so I'll go ahead and drop one each into CHA and LCK." The now-familiar power struck him, and he felt himself grow. Not in size, so much, but in stature. He felt powerful. He felt like things were opening to him.

He felt like all three of the women present were staring at him with unconcealed lust.

"Todd, you need data points, right?" Ghata was going somewhere with this. Where, Todd had no idea.

"Yeah. Trying to figure more out."

"Okay. Next question. You zeroed yourself out about 45 minutes ago. What is your mana at, right now?"

Todd called up his Status screen, checking his numbers. 0% Class Progress, Level 4, 20% Stamina... and as he watched, his MP ticked over to 4%. He reported this.

Ghata responded by standing up, walking over, and grabbing him by the hand. "Good. Then you get to get a data point without wasting an Inspiration. Song, Jem, hope you don't mind, but I'm taking a turn. If I am wrong on my own math, I'll give up my buff tomorrow. Work for you two?"

Both gave her a thumbs-up as she half-dragged him to his room. Todd was really wondering where this was going... but was eager to see how it did.

"Todd, you are about to screw me. Hard. Fast. Do what you will, but you have about eight minutes to finish up to make sure you don't interfere with anything in case of an accident. What you are also going to do is try to focus on casting something new. You need your spells, and you need your data. I need some dick. It works out." She shifted back into her full Rakshasi form, orange and black, her tiger face grinning ferally. "Now hurry up and strip. You're wasting time."

The last line carried a distinct note of preaching to the choir, since Todd was already halfway out of his pants. He practically fell into her furry bosom, gently laying her back onto his bed. Despite her words, he wasn't in a rush. After all, all he had to do was not hold back. Her legs around his waist, her tail curling around one leg, he took her. Gently, slowly, and smoothly. His hands came to her sides, traveled over all of her body that he could reach. Her body, this time. Not her alternate form. Not the imitation of an anime girl on a poster. Her.

As they moved together, he could picture in his mind the need to protect her. Both had been through much to get here, and unlike the others she stood by this over her own free will. Not out of a need, not out of a compulsion. When they came together, his power engulfed her. The scraps he had were enough to reinforce her body, to protect her. He could feel the name of the spell in his mind. Resistance.

Neither wanted to leave that bed, and so they slept there, together. Comfortable and warm.

Todd's dreams were hazy things, mostly. Vague visions of what his brain was working on, nothing usually of note. This time, though, he found before long that he was in a room. It felt like a classroom, though he could not see any details to back that up other than a whiteboard. There were no desks or tables, no windows. As the room came into slightly sharper focus, the door opened, and in walked a vision.